Sure-handed Tony Parker is entrusted to handle a Spurs offense predicated on precision. For the better part of a decade, he has done so without incident, the way the Spurs prefer each aspect of their franchise.

But, in a surprising turn, he could barely hold onto the ball Saturday. It took Parker only 15 seconds to accumulate his first turnover. Another came shortly afterward, and then another, and another and this continued until Parker had four turnovers within the first four minutes.

Parker’s struggles were indicative of the collective performance the Spurs put on to start their 104-93 overtime win over the Grizzlies in Game 3 of the Western Conference finals at FedEx Forum in Memphis.

That joint effort fell short of what Spurs coach Gregg Popovich expected from his team, and he made it known at 4:52 in the first quarter, when he elected to sub out all five of his starters in favor of a new lineup.

“It was one of the worst starts I’ve ever seen,” Popovich said.

Memphis deserves credit for the Spurs’ early troubles, as its heightened sense of urgency resulted in an elevated effort on defense, the calling card for this team all season. The Grizzlies, down 2-0, worked to become the first team to recover after succumbing to two 2-0 deficits in the same postseason. They forced the Spurs into eight first-quarter turnovers and converted them into 11 points. Wings Tony Allen and Tayshaun Prince, whose inability to shoot has been highlighted, even contributed at the onset.

“We had maybe eight turnovers in the first quarter,” Popovich said. “It looked like those five guys had been asleep since Tuesday. And so we thought we might as well get five different bodies out there and then we started to compete and not be as sloppy as that group looked.”

It was obvious that Popovich’s message had taken hold by the second quarter, when the regular starters emerged to mount a 7-0 run. The Grizzlies' 29-13 lead became 29-20, and it would only dwindle from there. A halftime score of 44-40 was encouraging to the Spurs, who trailed by as much as 18 points in the first period.

“Once we came to the locker room at halftime down (four), we knew we were in a great situation,” Spurs guard Manu Ginobili said.

The Spurs had been in this position before, against the Oklahoma City Thunder in last year’s Western Conference finals. San Antonio trailed headed into halftime against the Thunder and never recovered, dropping four straight games to suffer an exit just before the 2012 NBA finals, where OKC would fall to the Miami Heat.

This time the Spurs would punch back, fighting until they took their first lead of the game on a Danny Green 3-pointer to open the fourth quarter. By then, the Spurs’ “Big Three” had already kicked into gear, including Tony Parker, who would end the game with 26 points and five assists, relenting only three turnovers after that initial flurry.

“That was a real test of their character to continue to pound and pound and pound, and that’s what happened,” Popovich said. “Really proud of not really their effort so much but their ability to hang in and stick with each other and continue to play.”

San Antonio played the Grizzlies evenly in the fourth quarter, as their progression continued to trend upward. Memphis received solid efforts from its stars through regulation, even though forward Zach Randolph continued to search for his offense and guard Mike Conley found it hard to finish over San Antonio's bigs, going 6-of-18 from the field through four quarters.

The Spurs had come full circle when they entered overtime. Proof came in the form of a 9-1 run to start the final session, which was fueled by Duncan.

While time remained, the game unofficially ended when Parker entered the lane and went into a Euro step, took the hit from Randolph and put in a fadeaway and was fouled. He hit the free throw.

To that point, the Grizzlies had held a 19-1 record in their past 20 homes games and remained hopeful of becoming the first team to overcome two 2-0 deficits in the same postseason. Instead, the Spurs, one of the NBA’s most experienced teams, now sit only one game away for their fourth trip to the finals in the past 10 years and are unlikely to let that slip.

“I do believe that we can play better than today,” Ginobili said. “We had almost 20 turnovers, we gave them almost 20 offensive rebounds, so we can do better and we’re looking forward to doing it.”